Unfortunately there is no easy answer to your question. If you are a music lover first, the audio system is only a means to an end, and you are always going to be stuck with bad sounding software whether it is in the digital or analog format. The problem is, and always has been, the recording industry. To suggest that switching to records and a good turntable as a solution to your problem is silly given the fact that many analog recordings are not so good either. Overall, I too prefer the sound of my turntable (Well-Tempered Labs Reference with low output Grado Reference cartridge) over my digital system (Audio Logic DAC with CEC transport), but I do own some CD's that sound great and the Audio Logic comes as close to the sound of analog as you will find. And I would agree with Cornfedboy that the quality of CD's have certainly improved in recent years. If you have a recording you particularily enjoy you might look to see if it has been remastered in the last couple of years. But even then it really depends on how good of a recording it was in the first place and how good the engineers who are mastering it are. If it's the music you really love (rather than just the audio equipment) you will have to take the good with the bad. That said there are many different options available to you in the equipment realm that will help you to achieve sound that you prefer. Perhaps you might prefer a speaker that is a bit less revealing than the ML. You did not mention what you are using for a CD player and that may be a big problem. You might like to consider a Sunfire preamp to go along with your amp. It has very good tone controls which can be removed from the circuit when you don't need them. I could go on and on with suggestions, but as I said there is no easy answer. This is a great hobby, but it takes time and experience to find what you like and what works well together. There is no one system that works for everyone and spending lots of money is not the answer. Hopefully you will have access to a dealer or two that will let you try many differnt things in your home. Hope this helps.
Do I have to buy all new CDs?
OK, I know the question is fecetious, But I ffel like my collection of over 300 CDs went down to about 10 that still seem worth listening to. I am new to the audiophile game, so I started with Martin Logan SL-3s and a Sunfire amp. I guess I just didn't believe how revealing they really would be. I should have guessed when I immediately realized the differences in recording quality on the two Clapton CDs I use to audition speakers. This thread has become a complaint. For future reference is there any way to identify high quality recordings before I buy?